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Motoring

If you look up your vehicle handbook or ownership documents, it is likely that you will see a lot of information in metric. Although British signage is overwhelmingly imperial, car manufacturers - including American ones - work mainly in metric for design. Thus, not surprisingly, metric information is prominent in handbooks.

Dimensions are in mm

Metric car dimensions can be matched to metric height and width restrictions in UK and abroad. Metric dimensions are also normally required when booking ferries – so get to know them!

Other data on cars such as torque, power, emissions and fuel consumption is also given in metric. Some examples for commonly seen vehicles are given below:

In Britain, our measurement confusion makes fuel consumption very difficult to comprehend. Miles per gallon is awkward since fuel is no longer sold in gallons. Using litres per 100 km is also not ideal since our road distances are marked in miles, but is not difficult to understand. The higher the number, the more fuel is used and the more expensive your trip will be.